Olympic Velodrome Contract Helps Barnsley Firm Expand

A Barnsley timber construction company which created the frame for the London Olympics’ cycling track has expanded into bigger premises.

Constructional Timber designs, manufactures and installs engineered timber frames, beams and other fixtures for prestigious projects across the UK and abroad.

Velodrome Track

The 84,000 square feet facility, at Carlton Industrial Estate, will mean an increase in production capacity and could take turnover from £3.5 million to more than £5 million.

Growth is being aided by experts from business support organisation Enterprising Barnsley. Three news jobs have been created at the company in the last year taking the total workforce to 26.

Co-director Martin Daws said: “As well as being a much larger facility, unlike our previous site it’s all under cover which means the weather will no longer be a problem for us.

“It will give us the potential and scope for development that we’ve wanted for a while and we’re extremely excited about the future of the business.”

Constructional Timber was set up in 1979 in a small unit in Penistone and later moved to Carlton. Five years ago, managing directors Martin and Steve Godfrey bought the company from the family of the founder Norman Woods, who sadly passed away in 2002.

The team is involved in projects from concept to installation and has undertaken a number of major contracts worth up to £1.5 million for national construction companies, as well as working for smaller contractors.

The company won the contract to supply the support structure for the London 2012 velodrome after completing similar projects in Manchester, Southampton, Newport and Taiwan. The frame comprised 356 identical timber trusses made to the blueprint created by velodrome designer Ron Webb.

Constructional Timber was involved in another two building projects in the Olympic Park – at the Athletes’ Village and the pavilion for main sponsor BMW.

Constructional Timber has also crafted roofs and other timber structures for developments at Norwich Cathedral, the National Stone Centre, at Middleton by Wirksworth, Derbyshire, Oxford University’s Somerville College, Liverpool’s central library and the National Assembly, in Wales.

The firm recently completed a full roof structure and footbridge for the new headquarters of the World Wildlife Fund in Woking, Surrey.

Constructional Timber works extensively with glued laminated timber, which comprises several layers of timber bonded together. It performs well against steel in terms of strength, but its production is more environmentally friendly and it is imported from Europe where more trees are planted than are harvested.

Martin commented: “More companies and organisations are seeking to reduce their carbon footprint and want to build using the products we offer – not only that, the finished results are more pleasing to the eye.”

Enterprising Barnsley helped Constructional Timber to find its new base – a former warehouse and distribution space. In addition, it helped the firm to secure a Regional Growth Fund grant towards the cost of buying and adapting it. The company moved from a much smaller leased unit on the same industrial estate.

In addition, business coaches from Enterprising Barnsley have assisted with development of the company’s website and marketing.

Martin added: “Having the support from Enterprising Barnsley has been a real asset and, through the programme, we’re now creating a greater awareness of our core products and scope of works we can undertake.”

The Enterprising Barnsley programme is a partnership between Barnsley Development Agency (BDA) and Barnsley Business and Innovation Centre (BBIC).

The Enterprising Barnsley programme is supported financially by the European Union. The project has attracted £2,259,511 investment into Barnsley from the European Regional Development Fund as part of Europe’s support for the region’s economic development, through the Yorkshire and Humber ERDF Programme.